Chemicals found in many plastics are causing little boys to act more like little girls, according to new research. The study suggests that boys who are exposed to certain plastics while in utero are apt to have these behaviour changes.

A team of researchers at the University of Rochester examined play habits of children aged 4 to 7 years old. They found that the phthalates (chemicals in the plastic used in many household objects) can actually disrupt hormones. The chemicals affect the baby’s developing brain by deactivating testosterone, the male sex hormone.

During pregnancy, the moms of 145 youngsters had volunteered to be tested. Scientists tested urine samples from the pregnant moms for traces of phthalates, which can actually mimic the female sex hormone, estrogen.

Those boys born to women with higher levels of exposure to phthalates were less likely to play with toys like guns or trucks, or exhibit play behaviour typical of their gender, such as roughhousing or participating in sports.

If mothers were in the highest concentration group, the chance that their boys had a less masculine score was five times greater than mothers in the lowest concentration group.

“Phthalates may reduce levels of testosterone in unborn babies between the eighth and 24th week of pregnancy,” says Dr. Shanna Swan, lead author of this study and a professor at the University of Rochester for obstetrics and gynecology.

This alters the developing brain and male genitals, she told the Daily Mail. An earlier study from Dr. Swan found that boys born to moms with the highest phthalate levels were more likely to have smaller genitals and undescended testicles than other boys.

Phthalates are so-called plasticizers – a chemical compound added to commercial plastic to make it more pliable or translucent. The phthalates examined in Swan’s study – DEHP and DEB – can be found in commonly used flooring products, PVC shower curtains, and a variety of textiles and dyes found in many homes.

As well, Phthalates common in the environment are found in toys, food packaging, personal care products, nail polish and adhesives. Dr. Swan believes that the main source of exposure to these phthalates for the pregnant women is through food. This could be through the packaging of processed foods or even with the way you store or heat food in plastic containers.

She suggested that if women are concerned about the findings in this study then they may want to change their eating habits during pregnancy. It could be as simple as heating food in glass containers. – Shannon, staff writer

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Doctors are warning expectant parents that fetal heart rate monitors that can be bought personally and used at home should just be used for entertainment and not as an alternative to medical advice. They do not always provide an accurate picture of the health of the baby.

The devices may provide false reassurance in some situations, according to Abhijoy Chakladar, MD, of Princess Royal Hospital in West Sussex, England.

Dr. Chakladar highlighted a case that was recently published in British Medical Journal of one 34 –year-old expectant mother who noticed a reduction in her baby’s movement but delayed getting medical help after using a monitor.

When she was finally treated by doctors they found that the baby had passed away in-utero.

While the baby’s death may not have been avoidable, doctors from Brighton and Sussex University Hospital, who treated the woman, say that at the very least the monitor caused her to delay seeking help.

He said the stillbirth “may have been unavoidable,” but listening to the fetal heart monitor “certainly delayed presentation to the hospital.”

“Without training,” he added, sounds heard on the monitor “could easily be misinterpreted.” Likely, the mother had simply heard her own pulse or placental flow instead.

The home monitor devices give only a quick snap shot of the heart rate and nothing more. Moms are also not trained to listen to a baby’s heartbeat, therefore making this difficult.

Sales and use of at home fetal heart devices are on the rise says Rebecca Coombes, associate editor of BMJ. Many of these devices are being bought on the Internet and not all of them being offered/sold are of medical grade either.

Ms. Coombes said the regulated products use medical-grade ultrasound Doppler devices, which have to conform to medical standards and can cost $500 or more. But cheaper devices that do not use ultrasound retail for as little as $33.

“These are not considered medical devices,” she said.

Dr. Chakladar said that companies and manufacturers have an obligation to make this very clear to buyers.

I can totally relate with this article. I had my first son had 24 weeks in the summer of 2005. Just last October I found out I was expecting again. I was a nervous wreck because of all we went through the first time. Sadly, at only six weeks I miscarried. It was not long after that, at the end of December that I found myself pregnant again.

Once I passed the 6 week mark which I had miscarried at just prior, I started looking online to buy a fetal heart monitor. I received one in the mail when I hit 10 weeks and tried for hours that first night but couldn’t hear anything. Frustrated and upset, I emailed the company and they said by 12 weeks 98% of moms can find the heartbeat easily. So I waited.

At 12 weeks I tried and when I still heard nothing, I went for an ultrasound to make sure everything was fine.

Around 13 weeks I finally found the baby’s heartbeat. While I could pick mine up very easily, I can see how some moms could confuse theirs with the baby’s.

I would obsess and check every single day. There were many times I would wonder if something happened to the baby because I couldn’t get the heartbeat.

So, on the other side of “entertainment”, these can also cause unnecessary worry.

Don’t get me wrong, when I DID get the heartbeat it was absolutely awesome to listen to but I never would have “relied” on that at all. – Shannon, staff writer

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Research conducted at Queen Mary, University of London, has found that the number of Down’s Syndrome pregnancies rose as women are deciding to have children later in life. The same study also revealed that despite the increased diagnoses, the number of babies born with the chromosomal disorder has remained almost unchanged because of improved screening and subsequent abortions.

Delaying motherhood is the reason for a 71% increase in the number of babies diagnosed with Down’s syndrome in the last two decades.

Stats show that in 1989/90 there were 1,075 with down syndrome and now for 2007/08 that went up to 1,843.

A woman in her 30s has a 1 in 940 chance of having a baby that is diagnosed with down syndrome. At the age of 40 this rises to 1 in 85.

Live births of Down’s babies fell from 752 to 743 –or 1.10 to 1.08 per 1,000 births – over the period of time covered by the research.

If screening had not happened, the number of babies born with Down’s would have risen by 48%.

Around 92% of women who were screened and got a Down’s syndrome diagnosis decided to terminate their pregnancy. This is a HUGE number.

Terminations of Down’s syndrome pregnancies due to an increase and improvements in antenatal screening have caused the number of live births with Down’s syndrome to remain constant.” The study used data from the Down’s register for England and Wales, published online by the British Medical Journal.”

Any thoughts on this? I know that I feel that these babies have just as much of a right to be born and live a life as any other baby. It is sad that so many parents are choosing to abort a child that would teach them so much about life that probably isn’t possible with another child. – Shannon, Staff Writer

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There is a new study that is out which was done by researchers at the University of North Carolina and British Columbia’s Simon Fraser University. It is the first time that they are looking at links between prenatal BPA (bisphenol A exposure) exposure and behavioural issues in kids.

“Daughters of women who were exposed to a common chemical found in plastics while they were pregnant are more likely to show aggressive and hyperactive behaviours as two-year-olds, a new study shows.”

The study did show that the girls who had mothers that were exposed to the BPA while pregnant did have more “externalized” behaviour than the average two year old.

The chemical concentrations between 13 and 16 weeks of pregnancy were most strongly associated with behaviour problems in girls, but the study found no significant effect on boys.

Externalized behaviour includes more aggression and hyperactivity.

The women were followed during their pregnancy and until the children turned two years old. They measured the concentration in their urine at week 16, 26 and birth. The BPA was found in 90 percent of the urine samples taken. At the age of five the girls will be tested again.

BPA, a hormone disrupter that can cause reproductive damage and lead to prostate and breast cancer in adulthood, is a building block in polycarbonate plastic. People are exposed to BPA through medical tubing, some hard plastic water bottles, some baby feeding bottles, dental fillings, food-can and packaging linings, and carbonless paper.

In October of 2008 Canada was the first to declare BPA hazardous to the health and welfare of humans. They also made sure that the baby industry was not allowed to use the BPA in baby bottles.

While there was a measurable increase in aggressive behaviour among girls, the study also showed some evidence of increased depression and anxiousness among BPA-exposed boys — a finding Lanphear said needs further study.

My advice would be to stay away from anything containing BPA before even getting pregnant so then you know that you are not placing yourself at risk.

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Mercola has a great article about the extensive benefits to mom and baby from exercising while pregnant. According to a new report, physicians should recommend low to moderate levels of exercise to their pregnant patients, even if they have not exercised prior to pregnancy.

Exercise can strengthen and improve overall musculoskeletal and physiologic health as well as pregnancy related symptoms.

Some of those exercises are:

• Aerobics
• Both impact and nonimpact activities
• Resistance training (weight training)
• Swimming

Previous studies have shown that:

• Women who exercise throughout their pregnancies have larger placentas than their more sedentary peers. Because the placenta’s job is to transport nutritients and oxygen to the baby, having a large on will lead to a healthier baby.
• Women who exercised at the same rate throughout their pregnancy, or boosted the intensity of their exercise regimen later in pregnancy, gave birth to infants who were lighter and had less body fat than women who slowed down in the final trimester.
• Pregnant women who exercised three to four times a week seemed to have the best chance of having a healthy weight baby. Exercising more than four times a week, or less than three, was linked to lower birth weight (but not dangerously low birth weight).
• Back pain and leg cramps regularly experienced during pregnancy avoided with proper conditioning and physical exercise.
• Exercising during your pregnancy will help keep your muscles conditioned to handle the increasing weight, and can be very beneficial for both preventive and rehabilitative management.

Aside from optimizing your baby’s nutrient supply and avoiding annoying aches and pains during pregnancy, exercising during this time has other health benefits, including:

• Reduced Risk of allstones, which is a fairly common problem for many pregnant women. Serious cases may even require surgical intervention, which is far more risky during pregnancy.
• Reduced Risk of Preterm Birth. The risk of delivering a baby during the first 37 weeks of pregnancy, known as preterm birth, has been found to be reduced in women who engage in vigorous activity such as jogging or bicycling.
• All-Natural Post Partum Depression Relief. Dr. James S. Gordon, a world-renowned expert in using mind-body medicine to heal depression and anxiety, states that physical movement can, Improve your mood, relieve your anxiety, alleviate your symptoms of depression.

So sticking to your exercise regimen while you are pregnant can go a long way to insulate you from the pre- and post-partum depression episodes that plague so many pregnant women. Numerous studies have found that exercise is at least as good as, or better, than antidepressants for depression.

The main reason for this is because physical exercise changes the level of serotonin in your brain. It also increases your levels of endorphins, your “feel good” hormones.

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New research suggests that taking probiotics during their pregnancy may help women keep belly fat under control after pregnancy.

Researchers from the University of Turku in Finland enrolled 256 pregnant women in a study on weight gain, dividing them into three groups during their first trimesters.

Women in two of the groups received dietary counseling consistent with what doctors recommend for healthy weight gain and optimal fetal development.

They also were sent home with foods such as spreads and salad dressings with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, as well as fiber-enriched pasta and breakfast cereal.

Women in one of those two groups also received daily capsules containing lactobacillus and bifidobacterium, the most commonly used probiotics — bacteria that help maintain a healthy bacterial balance in the gut. The third group received dummy capsules and received no dietary counseling.

All of the women were weighed at the start of the study and then again 12 months after childbirth.

Central obesity — defined as a body mass index of 30 or more and a waist circumference over 80 centimeters (31.5 inches) — was found in 25% of the women who had been given the probiotics as well as advice on what to eat.

Those not given probiotics didn’t do as well. Central obesity was found in

• 43% of the women who got dietary counseling alone
• 40% of the women who got neither probiotics nor dietary advice

The average body fat percentage in the probiotics group was 28%, compared with 29% in the diet-advice-only group and 30% in the third set of women.

“The women who got the probiotics fared best,” says Kirsi Laitinen, a nutritionist and senior lecturer at Turku. “One year after childbirth, they had the lowest levels of central obesity as well as the lowest body fat percentage.”

She adds that more research is needed to confirm the potential positive role of probiotics on belly fat. Additionally, she says her team of researchers will continue to track the women and their babies to determine whether giving probiotics during pregnancy has any influence on the health of the children.

Good news for expectant moms who are suffering from morning sickness. Researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children’s (SickKids) Motherisk Program have found that morning sickness, which impacts up to 80 per cent of pregnancies, enhances children’s long-term neurodevelopment. The study will appear in the April 23 advance online edition of The Journal of Pediatrics.

This is the first study to assess the direct impact of morning sickness on children’s neurodevelopment. While previous studies suggested an early protective benefit of morning sickness, the long-term effects, including intelligence and specific cognitive skills, had not been directly investigated.

“Our findings suggest an association between NVP and improved neurodevelopment in the offspring,” says Dr. Irena Nulman, lead author of the study. “NVP is a widespread and puzzling physiological phenomenon that has yet to be sufficiently studied,” adds Nulman

Morning sickness may result from an altered secretion of hormones (HCG and thyroxine) during pregnancy. The change in hormone levels happens to ensure adequate placental growth.

For this study, participants were recruited through Motherisk’s NVP hotline database. The research included 121 women who called the hotline from 1998 to 2003. Participants were split into three groups of mother-child pairs: mothers who experienced morning sickness and were treated with diclectin (a drug used to treat nausea and vomiting during pregnancy); those who experienced morning sickness and did not take diclectin; and those who did not experience morning sickness.

Children aged three to seven years were assessed with standardized age-appropriate psychological tests, including measures of intelligence and behaviour. Other factors such as mother’s IQ, number of cigarettes smoked per day, alcohol consumption and socioeconomic status were also taken into account.

The study showed all children across the three groups scored within the normal ranges for neurodevelopmental outcome. It indicated children of women with morning sickness scored higher on performance IQ, verbal fluency, phonological processing and numerical memory. It also suggested diclectin does not appear to adversely affect fetal brain development. Severity of morning sickness was a significant predictor of higher scores, and maternal IQ also played a role in the outcome.

According to a report, Huang Yijun of Huangjiaotan, China, had been told in 1948 that her child had died in the womb, but the procedure to remove it was too expensive for her at the time.

An X-ray of the woman abdomen showed the unborn fetus.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I discovered she had a baby in her belly,” Dr. Liu Anbin at Qingshen hospital told the Central European News Agency. “I’ve been a doctor for more than 40 years, and it’s the first time I have seen something like this.”

Doctors are now doing further tests to determine if the fetus has to be removed or if the elderly woman can be spared surgery.

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Arriving usually in the second trimester, the linea negra is more commonly found in women who already have darker skin pigmentation and is caused by an increased production of the pigment melanin during pregnancy.

This unwanted line can last for several months after your baby is born. For some women the line will never completely go away. Some believe that there may be a connection between a woman’s insulin level and her getting linea negra, or even not getting enough folic acid.

It is an oldwives’ tale that if the linea negra stops at the belly button, the woman is having a girl, and if it goes all the way to the bottom of the rib cage then the woman is having a boy.

During my pregnancy I had read all about this line, but didn’t get one until I was 36 weeks along. The insulin explanation makes sense because my OB found that my sugar levels were high closer to the end of my pregnancy around the time this line appeared. It also goes all the way down my tummy, which confirms the wives tale about having a boy.

Obviously, I want to know how to get rid of it and from what I have read – only times fades this line.

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Amber Jade Mills, 23, was stopped last November when police saw her swerving, beeping the horn and parking across two spaces.

When the police pulled her over, she blew a blood alcohol reading of 0.226.

The mom-to-be is being assessed for home detention and will appear in court again later this month.

It is her third drink driving offence.

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